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CARICOM asks Sweden for help in tackling Blacklisting Issue

Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Ambassador Irwin LaRocque has urged Sweden to use its position in two major international organizations to highlight the unfair labelling of some of the Community’s Member States as “non-cooperative tax jurisdictions”. Speaking at the CARICOM Secretariat’s Turkeyen, Guyana headquarters during the accreditation ceremony of Sweden’s news Ambassador to the Community, the Secretary-General pointed out that as regional countries try to diversify their economies and build their services sector, some engaged in financial services have been labelled as “non-cooperative tax jurisdictions”. “This is despite the fact that the countries in question are not so designated by the relevant global authorities, such as the Financial Action Task Force and the OECD Global Forum,” he pointed out. “As a member of the EU and the OECD, Sweden can assist in encouraging these bodies to be guided by the informed position of the relevant global regulatory authorities and desist from their unnecessary seemingly punitive actions.” LaRocque called attention to the decision earlier this year by the European Union Council to screen some CARICOM Member States to determine whether they were co-operative tax jurisdictions using new criteria.